ANAHEIM,
Calif. -- Many of you may remember the Earl of Sandwich
restaurant in downtown Ann Arbor or the current one at Detroit
Metro Airport. Now there is a new location at Downtown Disney
in Anaheim. It opened on Oct. 29, 2012 and is considered to be
one of the busiest within the whole company.

“We
have plenty of sandwiches here,” said Domingo Baccay, general
manager of the Anaheim Earl of Sandwich. “The most popular
one is the Chipotle Chicken. You know California, they like avocado.
Second, actually is the Holiday Turkey. We call it Thanksgiving
in a sandwich. It comes with gravy on it, stuffing, turkey and
the cranberry sauce.”

The All-American
sandwich is the third most popular menu item at the Downtown Disney
restaurant. In addition, the Earl of Sandwich has quite an extensive
breakfast menu.

“We
serve Bacon ‘N Egg, Ham ‘N Egg, Egg ‘N Cheddar,
we also have fruit, parfaits, all those kind of good stuff,”
the general manager added. “We open at 8 o’clock in
the morning.”

Earl of
Sandwich sells Coca-Cola products on the fountain machine and
in bottles. However, the most popular beverage here is Earl’s
Grey Lemonade, a mix between lemonade and Earl’s Grey Tea.
They also serve Frappuccino’s and bottled water.

“I
think it’s delicious, I love the sandwich,” said Katharine
Kirk, a first-time guest from Huntington Beach, Calif. “I
ordered the Earl’s Club and it was really good. It has chicken,
bacon, swiss cheese and something called sandwich sauce. I didn’t
really know what it is and I thought, ‘Should I try it?’
It was actually really good. I like hot sandwiches, the baked
bread, it was fresh. It’s a little pricey but you can expect
that around Disneyland.”

Baccay
said his restaurant is approaching its 1 millionth customer, just
a year after it opened. That means the Anaheim location serves
more than 2,700 customers per day on average.

“This
is one of the busiest stores within the company,” he explained.
“As far as I know, we’re number three. We cater to
all kids like a family day for them.”

The general
manager hinted at two possible future locations for Earl of Sandwich
restaurants.

“We
have a big plan of expanding a lot of restaurants in southern
California, but I don’t want to divulge it right now. It’s
a secret. Just a tiny tip, I think it’s going to be in LAX,
that’s the first one and then some part of San Diego.”

A Disneyland
ticket is not required to eat at this Earl of Sandwich. The restaurant
is outside the theme park gates and offers three hours of free
parking.

“No,
we’ve been here quite a few times,” said Brittany
Ferrer, a guest from San Diego. “I got a Full Montagu and
the Tomato Soup. Awesome. I always get the same sandwich and the
Tomato Soup. I think it’s efficient how they have their
system. It’s always good, hot and fresh. It’s definitely
better quality than a Subway. We always will come back.”

Earl of
Sandwich offers a popular E-Club program on its website. Guests
who sign up for the very first time will receive a coupon for
a free brownie. Then, they will get a free sandwich for their
birthday.

“I
would like to invite you guys in our restaurant here in Downtown
Disney,” Baccay explained. “We offer a variety of
sandwiches. Sometimes, we have a special just like right now.
For the holiday, we have the Holiday Ham and Holiday Turkey. People
tend to forget that we have that all year long, but I’m
telling you that’s the bomb.”

First-time
guest Tiana Nieto said: “I think it was phenomenal, it was
so good. I got the Barbecue Ranch Chicken Club. It’s chicken
wrapped in a tortilla, there’s lettuce and ranch and barbecue,
tomatoes. The pricing is fair to a little bit pricey. Not as cheap
as Subway or Quizno’s, but it is worth the price I would
say. Yes, I’ll come back absolutely.”

This new
Earl of Sandwich is open from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through
Thursday and 8 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday.

“I’m
very impressed, I’ve heard a lot of good things about this
place,” said first-time guest Eri Lee from Aliso Viejo,
Calif. “The interior is decorated very well. It has a very
cozy atmosphere. The food is served very quickly from what I can
see. I know Subway and Quizno’s offers the same type of
efficiency, but this place has its favor. Today, I just ordered
a cole slaw. It seems pretty reasonable. If I had to compare it
to a restaurant, I would probably say something like Panera Bread.
I’ll definitely be coming back.”

Visit
the new Earl of Sandwich at 1565 S. Disneyland Dr. Ste. 102 inside
the Downtown Disney shopping and entertainment district in Anaheim,
Calif. For more information or to view their menu, visit www.earlofsandwichusa.com.